Recap / Buffy the Vampire Slayer S2E1 "When She Was Bad"

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"You know, we've never really been that close, which is nice, cause I don't really like you that much."

—Cordelia Chase

With vampire activity on the decline, Xander and Willow must content themselves with the perils of movie trivia. Xander whines that the summer has been extremely boring; But since Buffy has spent summer break in L.A. with her dad, the lack of demonic activity is a lucky break. A tender moment ensues when Xander playfully puts ice cream on Willow's nose, but just as he is about to kiss her, a vampire appears behind Willow. Xander intervenes and is barely holding out when, suddenly, a blonde tornado shows up and kicks the vampire into a proturuding tree branch. The Slayer is back in town.

School reboots. Giles gets the gang together and exposits that although they closed the Hellmouth, the mystical energy still attracts evil forces to the town. For once, Giles offers Buffy some time to settle in, but she is eager to resume her training. Whilst practicing, Buffy has a vision of the Master and begins furiously hitting a dummy. Giles furrows his brow.

Across town, a vampire pastor named Absalom preaches to his undead flock; promising them that all is not lost. He gestures to his leader, the Anointed One, sitting atop a throne.

Buffy has nightmares of The Master strangling her. She awakens in bed to find Angel in her room. He's come with a warning that the Anointed One has taken the reigns of the Master's order. Buffy coldly brushes him off. He tells her he missed her and leaves before she can reply. Meanwhile, the Anointed One is ordering his acolytes to dig up the Master's bones.

At the Bronze, Buffy arrives in a revealing dress and begins a slow, sensual dance with Xander that makes everyone squirm—particularly Willow and Angel, which was the entire point. Cordelia, who witnessed the entire scene, confronts her outside and tells her to get over her problems. The moment that Buffy stalks off, Cordy is nabbed by two dark figures. They toss her into a basement with a KO'd Ms. Calendar. Buffy walks to the grave that holds the Master, and finds it dug up.

At lunch the next day, Giles shares everyone's concerns about Buffy's mental state, unaware that she's standing in the doorway. When she reports on the Master's disappearance, Giles assures her that he has never heard of a vampire resurrection being successful. Buffy sarcastically thanks him for warning her that this kind of ritual exists. Tension between the Scoobies mount as night falls. Giles learns that a revivification spell needs the blood of the "closest" person to the deceased. On cue, Cordelia's ransom note, wrapped around a large rock, is lobbed through the library window. Buffy leaves for the obvious trap, sighing in frustration that she cannot look out for the Scoobies while doing her job. Angry, confused looks all around.

Outside the Bronze, Buffy tries to pick a fight with Angel, who ignores her and tails along. Inside, they find a brunette sobbing quietly. Buffy guesses this is some kind of lame Cordelia double, and realizes that the "trap" is not for her. At the same time, Giles realizes that the ritual requires the blood of those physically nearest to the Master when he died – in other words, Giles, Willow, Cordelia and Ms. Calendar. Giles sees vampires looming on the mezzanine level. They have a full set now.

Buffy returns to the library to find a bloodied Xander, who rages that if she had worked with them for five seconds, she could have prevented this. Reality having now dropped like an anvil on our heroine's head, she doubles back to The Bronze and tortures the Fake Cordy into confession.

In the abandoned warehouse, the remaining Scoobies are hanging by their feet, suspended over The Master's skeleton. Buffy interrupts the ritual and lets the stakes fly while Angel and Xander reel the hostages out of reach. Absalom, clutching a sledgehammer, charges at the Slayer. She twirls one of his ceremonial torches like a baton, incinerating Absalom and staking another with the broken end. From the second level, Willow proclaims the battle over.

"No, it's not," mutters Xander.

As her friends look on, Buffy retrieves the sledgehammer and raises it on high. Holding back tears, she smashes the Master's skeleton to dust.

The next day, Buffy, unsure of where she stands with her friends, resignedly goes to class. Willow generously says hello, and says they saved her a seat. Aw. Xander breaks the ice and suggests hanging out at The Bronze, but Willow vetoes that idea.

Blood Magic / Human Sacrifice: The revivification ritual requires the blood of those who were physically closest to the Master — Giles, Willow, Cordelia, and Ms. Calender — when he crashed into the library and was impaled. This proviso is obviously meant for the person responsible for slaying the Master; unluckily for the Scoobies, Buffy kicked him into a skylight beforehand.

Buy Them Off: Joyce is shocked at how many clothes and shoes her daughter managed to accumulate. Hank admits that Buffy seemed distant throughout the whole summer, and he "overcompensated a little" with gifts.

Call-Back: The Master's defeat in the previous season, and Buffy's heart stopping momentarily.

Willow worriedly asks if Cordelia's been yapping to everybody about their "adventure" over the summer.

Cordelia: What are you guys talking about? I'm talking about big squiggly demons that came from the ground! Remember? Prom night? With all the vampires? Buffy: Cordelia, your mouth is open and sound is coming from it. This is never good.

Cannot Spit It Out: Buffy rudely dismissing Angel and snuggling back under the covers, determinedly silent.

Censorship by Spelling: Willow asking why Buffy is acting like such a "B-I-T-C-H." Giles thinks they're too old to be spelling out words.

Could Have Avoided This Plot: After Giles and Willow are captured, Xander gives Buffy a scathing What the Hell, Hero? speech invoking this, pointing out that she could have stopped the attack if she had just worked with them for five minutes.

Cry into Chest: Buffy cries into Angel's chest after smashing the Master's bones.

Snyder saying that he can just smell delinquency, "like a sixth sense."

Giles: Actually, that would be one of the five.

Did I Say That Out Loud: Buffy confessing that's she been having weird dreams. Willow blurts that the other night she dreamt about Xander— she backpedals, "It wasn't Xander. In fact, it wasn't me. It was a friends' dream... and s-she doesn't remember it."

Divide and Conquer: Angel pointing out that something is off about the pathetic Bronze ambush. "There's the bait. Where's the hook?"

The Dragon: Absalom, for all intents and purposes, serves as this to the Annointed One.

Dramatic Drop: Absalom combusts in a very cool-looking mass of flames, and his mallet falls with a clang. Buffy meaningfully drops her own weapon (the torch) before approaching her old adversary — the Master.

Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: Shortly after Buffy leaves for the Bronze, seemingly walking into a trap set by the Order, Giles finishes translating the revivification ritual and discovers that "closest" to the Master actually means those who were physically present when the Master diednote Willow, Cordelia, Ms. Calendar, and Giles himself. Giles doesn't even finish his sentence before he realizes what this means. A double dose of this trope follows when he sees vampires crowding into the library behind Willow and Xander, and realizes the "trap" was actually meant to lure Buffy away so the Order could capture them without interference.

Giles wondering whether Snyder made the wrong career choice, and Snyder countering that someone has to keep an eye on the kids. "Every time a pretty girl walks by, every boy turns into a gibbering fool." On cue, Miss Calendar slinks up to Giles...

In the warehouse, Buffy lands a hit on one henchvamp by smashing a crate over his head.

Buffy is charged from opposite sides by Absalom and a henchvamp; she breaks off of the ceremonial torches, then lets them run onto its ends. Absalom gets torched while the henchvamp stakes himself on the broken end.

Interplay of Sex and Violence: Angel insisting Buffy's not as strong as she thinks, eliciting the response, "Think you can take me?" She goes on that he must have thought about what would happen if they ever fought, and the subtext here is obvious. "C'mon..." she says invitingly, "Kick my ass."

Long Bus Trip: This is the final "real" appearance of Buffy's father Hank Summers on the series. All subsequent appearances will be in the form of flashbacks, dreams or hallucinations.

Love Theme: This is the first recognizable appearance of the melody that will become "Close Your Eyes," Buffy and Angel's love theme. It begins as Buffy smashes the Master's bones and continues over Angel comforting Buffy.

Magnetic Plot Device: The vampires don't return until Buffy does. "It's like they knew I was coming back."

Make Sure He's Dead: After saving her friends from being sacrificed to revive the Master, Buffy crushes the Master's bones with a sledgehammer to make sure he never comes back.

Giles: What are you gonna do? Crawl inside a cave for the rest of your life? Buffy: Would it have cable?

Well, in season 6, Buffy does spend most of her time inside a cave below a certain crypt with cable, although I don't think she's watching TV.

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: "I don't know what your problem is, what your issues are. But as of now, I officially don't care. If you'd worked with us for five seconds, you could have stopped this."

Not Herself: The clincher is Buffy leading Xander on, right in front of Willow and Angel. Even Xander, who's getting his fantasy fulfilled, seems caught between arousal and a nagging feeling that something's not quite right.

Not Listening to Me, Are You?: Principal Snyder accompanying Giles down the hallway, likening the students to locusts. Giles and Jenny decide to head off to the faculty room together, leaving the oblivious Snyder behind.

"I try and tell 'em about the important things in life. Discipline, responsibility, punctuality. Might as well be talking to myself."

Not So Different: It's left to Cordelia to point out to Buffy that she's alienated everyone close to her. In playing the bitch here, one could imagine Gellar playing the Cordelia role fairly well.

Not So Dire / Skewed Priorities: Cordy commiserating with Miss Calendar about how awful their ordeal was. "It stays with you forever. No matter what they tell you. None of that rust and blood and grime comes out. I mean, you can dry clean till judgment day, you are living with those stains."

Nude Nature Dance: Giles asking Miss Calendar how her summer was, to which she replies that she went to Burning Man, which had, among other things, raves and naked mud dances. Giles's dilemma between "hippies" and "naked Miss Calendar" is palpable.

Offhand Backhand / One-Hit Polykill: As Absalom rushes at her blindly, Buffy snaps a large wooden torch in half. She swiftly stakes one henchvamp and sets Absalom on fire.

Oh, Crap!: "It is a trap." (looks up and sees vampires are surrounding them) "It just isn't for her."

O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Buffy's attitude problem causes her to get baited easily by the vamps, leaving her friends unprotected so that Willow, Cordelia, Giles, and Miss Calendar get kidnapped by the vampires working for the Anointed One. Xander, normally Buffy's biggest fan, lays it out for her:

Out-of-Character Moment: Buffy's behavior changes in response to the trauma of her near-death at the hands of the Master; she is sullen, actively lashes out at people, and flirts with Xander purely to upset Angel (and hurts Xander and Willow as a result).

Percussive Therapy: Buffy training on a wooden dummy that has pads attached to it. Giles tries to call her off, but she keeps going until she breaks the dummy in two with a side kick. Giles worriedly notes that she's stayed in shape.

Buffy beating up a vampire.

Giles: Where's Buffy?

Xander: Uh, she's working out her issues.

And of course, Buffy pulverizing the Master's bones with a sledgehammer.

Ransacked Room: By the time Buffy backtracks her way there, the library is full of overturned tables.

Reality Ensues: Both Willow and Xander assume that Buffy's unusually Jerkass behavior may be the result of Demonic Possession, but Giles quickly realizes and points out to them that her behavior is actually a result of PTSD from her fight with the Master; after all, even if it was only for a few minutes, she wastechnically dead.

"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Xander gives one to Buffy when her unwillingness to work with the group leads to everyone but Xander being kidnapped:

I don't know what your problem is, what your issues are. But as of now, I officially don't care. If you had worked with us for five seconds, you could have stopped this.

Right Behind Me: Giles suggesting that Buffy may have residual trauma from her bout with the Master, just in time for Buffy to appear in the doorway. Xander: "It's a very interesting point about trout, you just brought up now." Nice save, Derek Jeter.

Romance-Inducing Smudge: Xander touching his ice cream cone to Willow's nose. At the Bronze, Willow tries in vain to recreate the moment while Xander anxiously cranes his neck for Buffy. "You got somethin' on your nose."

Rousing Speech: Absalom tells the other vampires not to despair over their failure of the previous season.

"It doesn't matter what I want/It doesn't matter what I need/It doesn't matter if I cry/Don't matter if I bleed/You've been on a road/Don't know where it goes or where it leads."

Targeted Human Sacrifice: Ironically, the people most responsible for the Master's demise (Buffy on the school roof, Xander and Angel on the stair landing) are exempt from the A.O's list, by virtue of not being in the library when it happened...

The Tease: Buffy taking our her frustrations on both Angel and Xander in a very cruel way.

"Look, Angel, I'm sorry if I was supposed to spend the summer mooning over you, but I didn't. I moved on. To the living."

That Came Out Wrong: Giles giving Buffy a verbal pat on the back, saying her actions this week were "hardly the worst mistake you'll ever make." At Buffy's horrified look, he says he meant that to be more comforting.

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